Hush Money: A Mystery (A Jack MacTaggart Mystery Book 1)

A Finalist for Private Eye Writers of America's Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel A Finalist for Left Coast Crime's 2013 Rocky Award When Hush Puppy, Pasadena socialite Sydney Everett's champion show horse, dies under suspicious circumstances, junior lawyer Jack MacTaggart is assigned to handle the insurance claim. But the case soon takes an unexpected turn, thrusting Jack into a spiraling web of blackmail and murder in which he finds himself both the prime suspect and the next likely victim. In this acclaimed debut novel, the first in a series, former Los Angeles trial lawyer Chuck Greaves takes readers into the high-stakes worlds of big-firm litigation and professional equestrian show-jumping, where no one can be trusted, and where nothing is quite what it seems. A newly minted member of Pasadena's oldest and snobbiest law firm, Jack MacTaggart is assigned to handle an insurance claim on behalf of a socialite's racing horse. He goes deep into the high-stakes world of professional show jumping and down a path to romance "As he investigates a socialite's insurance claim for a champion show horse's sudden death, elite Pasadena law firm newcomer Jack MacTaggart uncovers links to an old blackmail scheme before he is falsely accused of murder."--publisher description